


[meta] time flies like an arrow (or, causality is not an oxymoron)

by AlexSeanchai



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Meta, Nonfiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-06-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 11:01:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24848722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexSeanchai/pseuds/AlexSeanchai
Summary: …fruit flies like a banana.A suggested chronological viewing order forMiraculous Ladybugcanon, with reasoning and with an attempt to sort out which references to calendar dates and/or to how much time passes between canonical events make sense and which one must choose between.This is currently limited to the episodes proper, as aired through "New York"; deuterocanon such as theMiraculous Secretswebisodes may later be added.
Comments: 19
Kudos: 49
Collections: March Meta Matters Challenge





	1. Suggested Viewing Order

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (I started it for March Meta Matters Challenge! It counts!)
> 
> _First-time viewers:_ The Origins episodes were apparently intended to be a flashback best viewed between seasons 1 and 2—that is, between "Volpina" and "The Collector"—and this is in my opinion correct for a spoiler-avoidant first watch. I am listing Origins first because they are chronologically earliest; "Volpina" and "The Collector" occur consecutively.
> 
> _US Netflix viewers:_ US Netflix's idea of episode numbers provided for your convenience; these are the numbers presented _second_. ("Santa Claws" has its episode number given as 0.00 because US Netflix inexplicably presents this episode as a whole separate show. The New York special has its episode number given as 0.00 because it is on Disney, not Netflix.)
> 
> _US Disney+ viewers:_ Somebody get me a proper listing of the episode order according to Disney+, please. I want to be able to fix the episode numbers here to correspond with Disney+ no later than when ML comes off of Netflix altogether. (Whenever that is. Soon, reportedly.) For now, sarah in the comments has provided the Disney+ listing from somewhere in Europe; these are the numbers presented _third_. The New York special is still 0.00 because I have the impression it is listed as a movie separate from the show.
> 
> _Spoilerphobes:_ I am now including information for stuff that hasn't yet aired, substituting spoiler-free descriptions and anticipated air dates for titles. My source is the 2021 March 1 stories from ladyofacat_ on Instagram, Zag brand ambassador.

# | NFX | Dis+ | Episode Title  
---|---|---|---  
001 | 1.15 | 1.20 | Ladybug & Cat Noir (Origins 1)  
002 | 1.16 | 1.18 | Stoneheart (Origins 2)  
003 | 1.03 | 1.01 | Stormy Weather  
004 | 1.01 | 1.02 | Bubbler  
005 | 1.02 | 1.06 | Mr. Pigeon  
006 | 1.04 | 1.04 | Timebreaker  
007 | 1.05 | 1.03 | Copycat  
008 | 1.06 | 1.05 | Pharaoh  
009 | 1.07 | 1.07 | Lady Wifi  
010 | 1.09 | 1.09 | Rogercop  
011 | 1.19 | 1.23 | Pixelator  
012 | 1.20 | 1.14 | Guitar Villain  
013 | 1.08 | 1.08 | Evillustrator  
014 | 1.13 | 1.13 | Mime  
015 | 1.11 | 1.10 | Horrificator  
016 | 1.12 | 1.12 | Darkblade  
017 | 0.00 | 2.06 | Santa Claws  
018 | 1.22 | 1.17 | Gamer  
019 | 1.14 | 1.15 | Princess Fragrance  
020 | 1.23 | 1.25 | Reflekta  
021 | 1.17 | 1.19 | Animan  
022 | 1.24 | 1.21 | Puppeteer  
023 | 1.21 | 1.16 | Kung Food  
024 | 1.18 | 1.22 | Simon Says  
025 | 1.25 | 1.24 | Antibug  
026 | 1.10 | 1.11 | Dark Cupid  
027 | 1.26 | 1.26 | Volpina  
028 | 2.01 | 2.01 | Collector  
029 | 2.02 | 2.02 | Prime Queen  
030 | 2.04 | 2.04 | Riposte  
031 | 2.03 | 2.20 | Despair Bear  
032 | 2.05 | 2.03 | Befana  
033 | 2.08 | 2.08 | Gigantitan  
034 | 2.10 | 2.10 | Sapotis  
035 | 2.06 | 2.05 | Robostus  
036 | 2.07 | 2.07 | Dark Owl  
037 | 2.09 | 2.09 | Glaciator  
038 | 3.03 | 2.12 | Zombizou  
039 | 2.11 | 2.11 | Gorizilla  
040 | 3.02 | 2.14 | Syren  
041 | 3.01 | 2.15 | Frightningale  
042 | 2.12 | 2.13 | Captain Hardrock  
043 | 3.05 | 2.17 | Style Queen (Queen's Battle 1)  
044 | 3.07 | 2.18 | Queen Wasp (Queen's Battle 2)  
045 | 3.08 | 2.21 | Reverser  
046 | 3.04 | 2.16 | Frozer  
047 | 3.09 | 2.23 | Anansi  
048 | 3.10 | 2.22 | Malediktator  
049 | 3.06 | 2.19 | Troublemaker  
050 | 3.11 | 2.24 | Sandboy  
051 | 3.12 | 2.25 | Catalyst (Heroes' Day 1)  
052 | 3.13 | 2.26 | Mayura (Heroes' Day 2)  
053 | 4.01 | 3.01 | Chameleon  
054 | 4.02 | 3.02 | Animaestro  
055 | 4.03 | 3.03 | Bakerix  
056 | 4.04 | 3.04 | Backwarder  
057 | 5.04 | 3.05 | Reflekdoll  
058 | 4.06 | 3.06 | Weredad  
059 | 4.07 | 3.07 | Silencer  
060 | 4.08 | 3.08 | Oni-chan  
061 | 4.09 | 3.09 | Miraculer  
062 | 4.10 | 3.10 | Oblivio  
063 | 5.06 | 3.11 | Desperada  
064 | 4.12 | 3.12 | Christmaster  
065 | 5.07 | 3.13 | Startrain  
066 | 5.02 | 3.14 | Kwamibuster  
067 | 5.03 | 3.15 | Feast  
068 | 4.05 | 3.16 | Gamer 2.0  
069 | 5.01 | 3.17 | Stormy Weather 2  
070 | 5.05 | 3.18 | Ikari Gozen  
071 | 5.08 | 3.19 | Timetagger  
072 | 4.11 | 3.20 | Party Crasher  
073 | 4.13 | 3.21 | Puppeteer 2  
074 | 5.09 | 3.22 | Cat Blanc  
075 | 5.10 | 3.23 | Felix  
076 | 5.11 | 3.24 | Ladybug  
077 | 5.12 | 3.25 | Heart Hunter [aka Loveater] (Battle of the Miraculous 1)  
078 | 5.13 | 3.26 | Miracle Queen (Battle of the Miraculous 2)  
079 | 0.00 | 0.00 | New York, United Heroez (Miraculous World 1)  
080 | 0.00 | 0.00 | [2021 April, Disney] (Miraculous World 2)  
081 | 0.00 | 0.00 | [S4E01]  
082 | 0.00 | 0.00 | [S4E02]  
083 | 0.00 | 0.00 | [S4E03]  
084 | 0.00 | 0.00 | [S4E04]  
085 | 0.00 | 0.00 | [S4E05]  
086 | 0.00 | 0.00 | [S4E06, 2021 March 27, Disney Channel Germany]


	2. Episode Order Reasoning

Season three chronological order is straightforwardly production code order, according to a tweet from Thomas Astruc. Earlier seasons, because supposedly this show started out intended to be watchable in any order, are where it gets more complicated.

The earliest two episodes are, of course, Origins 1 and 2.

I am assuming that the monster-of-the-week format of the show, in conjunction with its twenty-six-episode seasons, mean on average the events of one episode occur every week. It must be 'on average' because some episodes take place on the same day (such as any two-part other than Origins) or on consecutive days (such as Origins), and some episodes (such as "Simon Says" with its scenes on consecutive Fridays) contain time skips. (Also it seems unlikely that either album cover design in "Guitar Villain" took Marinette only a few hours, and it is most likely logistically impossible for a Jagged Stone–scale album release to have that cover in the CD jewel cases if the post-release scene at the end of the episode is within the same month as the rest of the episode.)

The plot of "Santa Claws" revolves around its happening on Christmas Eve; the plot of "Dark Cupid" revolves around its happening on Valentine's Day; though neither Origins episode centers on the beginning of the school year, that timing is key to several plot points in the first episode. I am assuming Origins is the first week of September, when the French school year begins; I am placing "Santa Claws" and "Dark Cupid" in the episode order based on that assumption and the assumption of approximately one episode per week; I am otherwise ignoring the calendar when figuring out the episode order.

The premiere episodes in various markets is almost always "Stormy Weather". When it is not, it is either close behind "The Bubbler" or immediately behind Origins 1 and 2; when "The Bubbler" is not the premiere episode, it is generally immediately behind "Stormy Weather". Though I am giving some weight to the ML wiki's various airing orders for subsequent episodes, I'm only doing so where the episodes give me few or no plot- or character-related reasons to suggest where one episode belongs in relation to another. And airing order or no airing order, many of my decisions are arbitrary.

The news report on M. Pigeon in "Mr. Pigeon" suggests that akumas are not yet Paris's go-to explanation of anything peculiar and possibly magical. This must therefore be one of the earliest akuma attacks. "Timebreaker" and "Copycat" must also be fairly early, since hardly anyone in the first go-round of "Timebreaker" thinks the title akuma looks odd enough to flee from, and Chat Noir does not yet seem to have Paris's trust.

Adrien recognizes the textbook Ladybug drops in "The Pharaoh", which seems to be the first it occurs to him that Adrien might already have met Civilian Ladybug, a topic Chat Noir raises with Ladybug in "Lady Wifi". Also in "Lady Wifi", Ladybug jokes about Chloé as Ladybug being a copycat, likely a joke about "Copycat".

Tom Dupain mentions baking an Eiffel Tower cake in "Rogercop". This may be a hypothetical cake, or a different specific cake, but it may also be the Eiffel Tower cake Nadja Chamack picks up in "Timebreaker".

In "The Evillustrator", Stormy Weather and Lady Wifi both appear in Nathaniel's drawings. Marinette and Chat Noir both behave as though this is the first time either has met the other, so—odd as it is that Chat Noir asks in "The Puppeteer" where Marinette lives, when he knew exactly where that was in "The Evillustrator"—all other Marichat moments, such as in "Gamer" and "The Puppeteer", must be in later episodes.

In "Pixelator", when Jagged Stone checks into the Grand Paris, André Bourgeois does not recognize him; in "Darkblade", "Kung Food", and "Antibug", he knows who Jagged is. Also in "Pixelator", Marinette makes a pair of Eiffel Tower sunglasses that are the reason Jagged Stone commissions her in "Guitar Villain".

In "The Mime", the moment Ladybug and Adrien lock eyes stretches out dramatically: it must be the first moment in which they see each other _as_ Ladybug and Adrien, and therefore all other episodes with Ladrien moments—prominently "Santa Claws" and "Simon Says"—must follow "The Mime".

"The Puppeteer" features dolls of Lady Wifi, the Evillustrator, and Rogercop. It also shows Marinette outside the panther exhibit at the zoo, which exhibit is new as of "Animan".

The diary lockbox Marinette finishes assembling in "Darkblade" is already complete in "Gamer".

"Dark Cupid" being Valentine's means, assuming Origins is the first week of September and episodes occur about once per week, "Dark Cupid" must be the latest S1 episode bar "Volpina", the season finale. "The Collector" opens a few moments before "Volpina" closes, on a different camera angle.

"Santa Claws" aside, because Adrien's first Christmas without his mother must occur in December between Origins in September and "Dark Cupid" in February: while a number of S2 episodes _may_ occur before any of several S1 episodes, none _must_. Insisting (with that exception) that each season be viewed in full before moving on to the next season simplifies several things, and there is only one episode from S1 or S2 ("The Puppeteer") that may occur after Heroes' Day anyway.

"Prime Queen" refers back to moments in multiple S1 episodes, most prominently "Dark Cupid". While it is possible that the romantic music playing over both attempted Ladynoir kiss moments in "Prime Queen" (when the characters are _not_ hearing the music) is meant to refer back to the Adrienette slow dance in "Despair Bear" (when the characters _are_ hearing the music), it is also possible that "Despair Bear" is meant to refer back to "Prime Queen". It seems unlikely that Nadja Chamack would wait a moment longer to air the "Dark Cupid" kiss photo than she needed to, so while there is no problem with placing "Volpina" and "The Collector" between "Dark Cupid" and "Prime Queen" (after all, Nadja needed time to arrange the interview), it makes the most sense to place _only_ "Volpina" and "The Collector" between "Dark Cupid" and "Prime Queen".

The entire flashback in "Ladybug" seeming to show that Lila was watching Marinette's birthday party in "Befana" in relation to Lila's agreement with Gabriel makes no sense given that Lila did not meet Gabriel until "Oni-chan". I am therefore assuming the moment where Lila and Gabriel converse happens after "Oni-chan" and before the rest of "Ladybug". Since "Befana" feels like an earlier-S2 episode (where Queen's Battle is certainly mid- to late S2); since Marinette would have had to be working with Gabriel's employees before Queen's Battle in order for her hat to be part of the fashion show in Queen's Battle; and since the chronology presented in the "Ladybug" flashback is already untrustworthy: I am assuming that when Adrien said Marinette made the hat he _wore_ in that show, he meant the hat he _will wear_ in that show. (It's not like it's the only time the dialogue has flubbed something.)

The original akuma target in "Gigantitan" was the Gorilla. While it is possible that Hawkmoth may have intended to akumatize the Gorilla a second time, it seems likelier that he had not akumatized the Gorilla yet.

"Sapotis" is the first time Marinette has visited Fu after "The Collector", and therefore must precede "Robostus", "Syren", "Style Queen", and "Sandboy".

When Markov, introduced in "Robostus", tries to talk to M. Damocles about computing, M. Damocles shuts himself up before he says much about his programming experience. This may be in order to continue preserving the secrecy around his identity as The Owl, since Albert—either a less complex AI than Markov or a digital assistant like Cortana, Siri, or Alexa—is shown in "The Dark Owl" to be part of that secret identity. If so, "Robostus" must be the earlier episode. Markov also has a cameo appearance in "Syren".

In "Prime Queen" and "Dark Owl", Ladybug is not yet aware that Chat Noir's flirting is from genuine romantic feeling; in "Frozer", she already knows and she reminds him she is interested in someone else; the conversations in "Glaciator" therefore occur in between.

"Zombizou" hinting that it is possible to akumatize an untransformed Miraculous wielder—without, as Gabriel temporarily does in "The Collector" and as Rena Rouge temporarily does whenever returning the necklace to Ladybug, the wielder first renouncing the Miraculous—must precede Queen's Battle, which proves it is possible to akumatize a transformed Miraculous wielder.

Though Marinette's reaction to the charm bracelet she gave Adrien in "Gorizilla" suggests it's the first she knows that Adrien still has it, I am not taking this to mean "Gorizilla" precedes "Befana". Adrien mentioned the charm to Marinette in "Befana", and Marinette was promptly distracted by the similar one he was giving her; she did not in that episode see him holding the original, though viewers did. It is therefore probable that Marinette did not properly realize Adrien carries the charm everywhere until he showed it to her in "Gorizilla", even though he told her exactly that earlier in "Befana". "Gorizilla" also has a glimpse of the creepy coffin chamber: this episode must therefore precede "Style Queen", where we find Gabriel down there.

Cameo appearances in "Frightningale" include: Ondine, introduced in "Syren"; Luka, introduced in "Captain Hardrock"; and Marc, introduced in "Reverser". Since Marinette already knows who Marc is when "Reverser" opens and since the other dancers in the music video are predominantly students at their school, and because "Frightningale" cannot be both before "Style Queen" and after "Reverser", I am assuming Marc's cameo does _not_ mean "Reverser" is before "Frightningale". Because Ondine has only so much as been mentioned in five episodes altogether (three of which are "Mayura" or later), I am assuming Ondine's cameo _does_ mean "Syren" is before "Frightningale".

Luka's "Frightingale" cameo is harder to sort out, since Marinette didn't know his name until "Captain Hardrock", but "Frightningale" suggests Clara Nightingale only just arrived in Paris, when "Captain Hardrock" has her as one of the headline performers in Paris's music festival. I think at least most of "Frightingale" happened before "Captain Hardrock": there is no reason to suppose all the music video dancers are people Marinette and/or Adrien would have known at filming time, so Marinette not having a name to go with this particular dancer's face until "Captain Hardrock" makes sense. And there must have been time for video editing in between its filming and its release, so by the time Marinette first saw the completed video, she might have learned Luka's name. (The music festival poster in that scene offers no clues: it may be advertisement for the upcoming festival, or it may not have been taken down after the festival.)

Clara Nightingale, introduced in "Frightningale", has a cameo appearance in "Style Queen". She also appears in "The Dark Owl", but only because her music video does; most likely the music video was released months before "Frightningale", and therefore its appearance in "The Dark Owl" does not indicate in which order those two episodes occur.

"Style Queen" may overlap with "Queen Wasp": if it does, Audrey and Chloé must not have immediately returned to the fashion show, because the show resumes in "Queen Wasp" before or during their descending the Eiffel Tower and Chloé examining the mini Miracle Box in her bedroom in "Style Queen". Even if those don't overlap, the Queen's Battle episodes are certainly consecutive.

In "Reverser", Nathaniel draws Queen Wasp.

In "Frozer", Adrien considers asking romance advice from eight of his friends, and decides not to ask any of those eight on the grounds that Ivan and Mylène, Alya and Nino, Rose and Juleka, and Nathaniel and Marc are all already dating couples. Marc and Nathaniel met in "Reverser". Kagami also appears in "Frozer", having been introduced in "Riposte".

In "Anansi", several characters visit the ice rink that, until "Frozer", none of them had been to in a long time if ever.

In "Malediktator", Alya observes that Rena Rouge and Carapace never got a party; Carapace debuted in "Anansi".

Marinette first met Plagg in "Style Queen", and later recognizes him in "Sandboy". Since "Catalyst" opens with an early-morning akuma, with the clear intent of ensuring Ladybug and Chat Noir are already tired for Heroes' Day, "Sandboy" being the last episode before "Catalyst" makes sense for the same reason. Hawkmoth was clearly planning Heroes' Day at least as far in advance as "Anansi" anyway.

All S1 and S2 episodes other than Heroes' Day 1 and 2, with the possible (but unlikely) exception of "The Puppeteer", must occur before Heroes' Day. S3 follows Heroes' Day in production code order, and "New York, United Heroez" is set between S3 and S4.

* * *

_Sidebar:_ Since Hawkmoth's strategy on Heroes' Day of reakumatizing people seemed to surprise everyone so much, it seems likely that his strategy as of "Timetagger" of repeatedly reakumatizing Xavier Ramier is new as of after Heroes' Day, without changing the frequency of non–M. Pigeon akumas. (It was clear, to viewers if not to characters, in "Despair Bear" that reakumatizing people was possible, because Hawkmoth tried for both Kim and Mylène. But Hawkmoth may well not have thought of key elements of the Heroes' Day plan until after "Despair Bear".) Because Ladybug and Hawkmoth agree that "Timetagger" is the twenty-fourth time M. Ramier has been akumatized, then—since "Timetagger" is production code 319—there must have been twenty-two M. Pigeon attacks over the course of the previous eighteen S3 episodes, or a little more than one per week in addition to the akuma that gets its own episode that week. "New York" featuring the fifty-first M. Pigeon akuma suggests some time has passed after "Miracle Queen"—which "New York" must follow based on the Luka/Marinette, Adrien/Kagami, and Adrien/Marinette interactions—but it is not clear how much time. If "New York" begins only a week or so after "Miracle Queen", then there have been twenty-six offscreen M. Pigeon attacks over the course of the seven S3 episodes between "Timetagger" and "New York", or about three per week, with no clear reason for this acceleration. If however Hawkmoth is amping up attack frequency after "Miracle Queen", then all twenty-six of those offscreen M. Pigeon attacks are between "Miracle Queen" and "New York", and we could figure out frequency from length of timeskip or vice versa, if we had any guess at either.

The news report on M. Pigeon in "Mr. Pigeon" suggests that akumas are not yet Paris's go-to explanation of anything peculiar and possibly magical. This must therefore be one of the earliest akuma attacks. "Timebreaker" and "Copycat" must also be fairly early, since hardly anyone in the first go-round of "Timebreaker" thinks the title akuma looks odd enough to flee from, and Chat Noir does not yet seem to have Paris's trust.

Adrien recognizes the textbook Ladybug drops in "The Pharaoh", which seems to be the first it occurs to him that Adrien might already have met Civilian Ladybug, a topic Chat Noir raises with Ladybug in "Lady Wifi". Also in "Lady Wifi", Ladybug jokes about Chloé as Ladybug being a copycat, likely a joke about "Copycat".

Tom Dupain mentions baking an Eiffel Tower cake in "Rogercop". This may be a hypothetical cake, or a different specific cake, but it may also be the Eiffel Tower cake Nadja Chamack picks up in "Timebreaker".

In "The Evillustrator", Stormy Weather and Lady Wifi both appear in Nathaniel's drawings. Marinette and Chat Noir both behave as though this is the first time either has met the other, so—odd as it is that Chat Noir asks in "The Puppeteer" where Marinette lives, when he knew exactly where that was in "The Evillustrator"—all other Marichat moments, such as in "Gamer" and "The Puppeteer", must be in later episodes.

In "Pixelator", when Jagged Stone checks into the Grand Paris, André Bourgeois does not recognize him; in "Darkblade", "Kung Food", and "Antibug", he knows who Jagged is. Also in "Pixelator", Marinette makes a pair of Eiffel Tower sunglasses that are the reason Jagged Stone commissions her in "Guitar Villain".

In "The Mime", the moment Ladybug and Adrien lock eyes stretches out dramatically: it must be the first moment in which they see each other _as_ Ladybug and Adrien, and therefore all other episodes with Ladrien moments—prominently "Santa Claws" and "Simon Says"—must follow "The Mime".

"The Puppeteer" features dolls of Lady Wifi, the Evillustrator, and Rogercop. It also shows Marinette outside the panther exhibit at the zoo, which exhibit is new as of "Animan".

The diary lockbox Marinette finishes assembling in "Darkblade" is already complete in "Gamer".

"Dark Cupid" being Valentine's means, assuming Origins is the first week of September and episodes occur about once per week, "Dark Cupid" must be the latest S1 episode bar "Volpina", the season finale. "The Collector" opens a few moments before "Volpina" closes, on a different camera angle.

"Santa Claws" aside, because Adrien's first Christmas without his mother must occur in December between Origins in September and "Dark Cupid" in February: while a number of S2 episodes _may_ occur before any of several S1 episodes, none _must_. Insisting (with that exception) that each season be viewed in full before moving on to the next season simplifies several things, and there is only one episode from S1 or S2 ("The Puppeteer") that may occur after Heroes' Day anyway.

"Prime Queen" refers back to moments in multiple S1 episodes, most prominently "Dark Cupid". While it is possible that the romantic music playing over both attempted Ladynoir kiss moments in "Prime Queen" (when the characters are _not_ hearing the music) is meant to refer back to the Adrienette slow dance in "Despair Bear" (when the characters _are_ hearing the music), it is also possible that "Despair Bear" is meant to refer back to "Prime Queen". It seems unlikely that Nadja Chamack would wait a moment longer to air the "Dark Cupid" kiss photo than she needed to, so while there is no problem with placing "Volpina" and "The Collector" between "Dark Cupid" and "Prime Queen" (after all, Nadja needed time to arrange the interview), it makes the most sense to place _only_ "Volpina" and "The Collector" between "Dark Cupid" and "Prime Queen".

The entire flashback in "Ladybug" seeming to show that Lila was watching Marinette's birthday party in "Befana" in relation to Lila's agreement with Gabriel makes no sense given that Lila did not meet Gabriel until "Oni-chan". I am therefore assuming the moment where Lila and Gabriel converse happens after "Oni-chan" and before the rest of "Ladybug". Since "Befana" feels like an earlier-S2 episode (where Queen's Battle is certainly mid- to late S2); since Marinette would have had to be working with Gabriel's employees before Queen's Battle in order for her hat to be part of the fashion show in Queen's Battle; and since the chronology presented in the "Ladybug" flashback is already untrustworthy: I am assuming that when Adrien said Marinette made the hat he _wore_ in that show, he meant the hat he _will wear_ in that show. (It's not like it's the only time the dialogue has flubbed something.)

The original akuma target in "Gigantitan" was the Gorilla. While it is possible that Hawkmoth may have intended to akumatize the Gorilla a second time, it seems likelier that he had not akumatized the Gorilla yet.

"Sapotis" is the first time Marinette has visited Fu after "The Collector", and therefore must precede "Robostus", "Syren", "Style Queen", and "Sandboy".

When Markov, introduced in "Robostus", tries to talk to M. Damocles about computing, M. Damocles shuts himself up before he says much about his programming experience. This may be in order to continue preserving the secrecy around his identity as The Owl, since Albert—either a less complex AI than Markov or a digital assistant like Cortana, Siri, or Alexa—is shown in "The Dark Owl" to be part of that secret identity. If so, "Robostus" must be the earlier episode. Markov also has a cameo appearance in "Syren".

In "Prime Queen" and "Dark Owl", Ladybug is not yet aware that Chat Noir's flirting is from genuine romantic feeling; in "Frozer", she already knows and she reminds him she is interested in someone else; the conversations in "Glaciator" therefore occur in between.

"Zombizou" hinting that it is possible to akumatize an untransformed Miraculous wielder—without, as Gabriel temporarily does in "The Collector" and as Rena Rouge temporarily does whenever returning the necklace to Ladybug, the wielder first renouncing the Miraculous—must precede Queen's Battle, which proves it is possible to akumatize a transformed Miraculous wielder.

Though Marinette's reaction to the charm bracelet she gave Adrien in "Gorizilla" suggests it's the first she knows that Adrien still has it, I am not taking this to mean "Gorizilla" precedes "Befana". Adrien mentioned the charm to Marinette in "Befana", and Marinette was promptly distracted by the similar one he was giving her; she did not in that episode see him holding the original, though viewers did. It is therefore probable that Marinette did not properly realize Adrien carries the charm everywhere until he showed it to her in "Gorizilla", even though he told her exactly that earlier in "Befana". "Gorizilla" also has a glimpse of the creepy coffin chamber: this episode must therefore precede "Style Queen", where we find Gabriel down there.

Cameo appearances in "Frightningale" include: Ondine, introduced in "Syren"; Luka, introduced in "Captain Hardrock"; and Marc, introduced in "Reverser". Since Marinette already knows who Marc is when "Reverser" opens and since the other dancers in the music video are predominantly students at their school, and because "Frightningale" cannot be both before "Style Queen" and after "Reverser", I am assuming Marc's cameo does _not_ mean "Reverser" is before "Frightningale". Because Ondine has only so much as been mentioned in five episodes altogether (three of which are "Mayura" or later), I am assuming Ondine's cameo _does_ mean "Syren" is before "Frightningale".

Luka's "Frightingale" cameo is harder to sort out, since Marinette didn't know his name until "Captain Hardrock", but "Frightningale" suggests Clara Nightingale only just arrived in Paris, when "Captain Hardrock" has her as one of the headline performers in Paris's music festival. I think at least most of "Frightingale" happened before "Captain Hardrock": there is no reason to suppose all the music video dancers are people Marinette and/or Adrien would have known at filming time, so Marinette not having a name to go with this particular dancer's face until "Captain Hardrock" makes sense. And there must have been time for video editing in between its filming and its release, so by the time Marinette first saw the completed video, she might have learned Luka's name. (The music festival poster in that scene offers no clues: it may be advertisement for the upcoming festival, or it may not have been taken down after the festival.)

Clara Nightingale, introduced in "Frightningale", has a cameo appearance in "Style Queen". She also appears in "The Dark Owl", but only because her music video does; most likely the music video was released months before "Frightningale", and therefore its appearance in "The Dark Owl" does not indicate in which order those two episodes occur.

"Style Queen" may overlap with "Queen Wasp": if it does, Audrey and Chloé must not have immediately returned to the fashion show, because the show resumes in "Queen Wasp" before or during their descending the Eiffel Tower and Chloé examining the mini Miracle Box in her bedroom in "Style Queen". Even if those don't overlap, the Queen's Battle episodes are certainly consecutive.

In "Reverser", Nathaniel draws Queen Wasp.

In "Frozer", Adrien considers asking romance advice from eight of his friends, and decides not to ask any of those eight on the grounds that Ivan and Mylène, Alya and Nino, Rose and Juleka, and Nathaniel and Marc are all already dating couples. Marc and Nathaniel met in "Reverser". Kagami also appears in "Frozer", having been introduced in "Riposte".

In "Anansi", several characters visit the ice rink that, until "Frozer", none of them had been to in a long time if ever.

In "Malediktator", Alya observes that Rena Rouge and Carapace never got a party; Carapace debuted in "Anansi".

Marinette first met Plagg in "Style Queen", and later recognizes him in "Sandboy". Since "Catalyst" opens with an early-morning akuma, with the clear intent of ensuring Ladybug and Chat Noir are already tired for Heroes' Day, "Sandboy" being the last episode before "Catalyst" makes sense for the same reason. Hawkmoth was clearly planning Heroes' Day at least as far in advance as "Anansi" anyway.

All S1 and S2 episodes other than Heroes' Day 1 and 2, with the possible (but unlikely) exception of "The Puppeteer", must occur before Heroes' Day. S3 follows Heroes' Day in production code order, and "New York, United Heroez" is set between S3 and S4.

* * *

Since Hawkmoth's strategy on Heroes' Day of reakumatizing people seemed to surprise everyone so much, it seems likely that his strategy as of "Timetagger" of repeatedly reakumatizing Xavier Ramier is new as of after Heroes' Day, without changing the frequency of non–M. Pigeon akumas. (It was clear, to viewers if not to characters, in "Despair Bear" that reakumatizing people was possible, because Hawkmoth tried for both Kim and Mylène. But Hawkmoth may well not have thought of key elements of the Heroes' Day plan until after "Despair Bear".) Because Ladybug and Hawkmoth agree that "Timetagger" is the twenty-fourth time M. Ramier has been akumatized, then—since "Timetagger" is production code 319—there must have been twenty-two M. Pigeon attacks over the course of the previous eighteen S3 episodes, or a little more than one per week in addition to the akuma that gets its own episode that week. "New York" featuring the fifty-first M. Pigeon akuma suggests some time has passed after "Miracle Queen"—which "New York" must follow based on the Luka/Marinette, Adrien/Kagami, and Adrien/Marinette interactions—but it is not clear how much time. If "New York" begins only a week or so after "Miracle Queen", then there have been twenty-six offscreen M. Pigeon attacks over the course of the seven S3 episodes between "Timetagger" and "New York", or about three per week, with no clear reason for this acceleration. If however Hawkmoth is amping up attack frequency after "Miracle Queen", then all twenty-six of those offscreen M. Pigeon attacks, 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A preview of chapter 3, "Dates and Duration Reasoning":
>
>> "Felix" is therefore almost a year and a half after Origins, contrary to the assertion in "Felix" that it takes place on the first anniversary of Émilie Agreste's disappearance. But that assertion makes no sense anyway: the plots of "Santa Claws" and "Dark Cupid" revolve around their respective Christmas Eve and Valentine's Day settings, flowcharting which episodes must occur before and after which episodes means very few S2 episodes and no S3 episodes may occur prior to "Dark Cupid", and Émilie's disappearance was not, as of Origins 1, very recent. If "Felix" occurs on the one-year anniversary of her disappearance, the second and third seasons must take place in a combined total of five months _at most_.
> 
> * * *
> 
> I have a flow chart showing that the episode(s) on the left, of each line below, _must_ occur earlier than the episode on the right. I do not have notes on any of my reasoning. The parts of the flow chart I haven't reconstructed my reasoning for are reproduced below: if you think you have figured out what I was thinking in any of these lines, _please_ comment to say so! And if you think I've missed something, _please_ comment to say so! I'm also happy to entertain comments from anyone who thinks I'm wrong on any of these points, whether or not I have reasoning, as long as you state yours: I expect I'm not going to change some of my assumptions no matter what, but if you disagree and say why, I'm way more likely to go 'oh yeah, that makes more sense' than if you simply disagree.
> 
> Horrificator → Gamer  
> Horrificator → Kung Food
> 
> Dark Owl; Gigantitan; Despair Bear; Befana → Glaciator
> 
> Despair Bear → Zombizou
> 
> Santa Claws; Gorizilla → Troublemaker

**Author's Note:**

> [My comment policy](https://alexseanchai.tumblr.com/post/612627045048008704/as-a-fic-writer-i-need-every-reader-to-know): tl;dr happy comments make me happy. So do thinky comments, of course, but there exist jerks who think only thinky comments are worth anyone leaving.
> 
> Find me on [Dreamwidth](https://alexseanchai.dreamwidth.org/) and [Tumblr](https://alexseanchai.tumblr.com/).


End file.
